Against All Odds
by AsTheDarknessFalls
Summary: When Primrose Everdeen is reaped into the Hunger Games, she doesn't know what's going to happen to her. She knows that her chances of winning are next to nothing. Are they, though?
1. Chapter 1

**Only gonna say this once: I do not own the Hunger Games, or any on the characters in it.**

_The point of the arrow is pointed directly at President Snow's heart. But it's not Katniss who's holding the bow. It's Prim. Because Katniss never volunteered for Prim. Peeta promised he would keep Prim safe, and in the end it was those two that pulled out the berries, and Prim is now the face of the rebellion. She's the Mockingjay._

It's Reaping Day, and as I'm standing in the crowd in the square, I look over and catch Katniss's eye. It's my first year eligible to enter the Hunger Games, and I'm terrified. It doesn't show, but I am. I barely listen as the speech is given. Only one ear is listening. The other is tuned out, listening to the sounds of the woods. What I'm familiar to. My goat, Lady's bleat, my little cat Buttercup, the Mockingjay's voice when my dad used to sing. Everything that makes life worth living. And Katniss, my mom, and Gale. All the people in my life that I love. I don't know many people, because mostly I stay at the house and help my mother with all the sick and injured people. I love it, and I just know that I'm going to take my mom's place when I grow up. I love my life.

The lecture is over, and Effie Trinket takes the mayor's place. "And may the odds be _ever _in your favor!" With a cheerful place that seems out of place, she says, "Ladies first!"

I hold my breath and watch her grab a paper at the very bottom. And I watch her say the name, "Primrose Everdeen!"

I catch my breath. "No..." I mutter shakily, stepping forward. The color is quickly draining from my face, and I walk slowly up to the stage.

"Any volunteers?" Effie asks. I see my sister, Katniss, in the crowd, but she looks too shocked to say anything. Realizing that no one's going to volunteer, that I'm all alone, I walk towards the front the the stage, shocked. I have one slip in there, one among thousands, and mine gets picked. The odds are definitely _not _in my favor today. As I take my place on the stage, the boy is picked.

"Peeta Mellark!" I recognize the face from somewhere. Then I remember. He's the baker's boy. Of course, I don't know him too well. He doesn't come from the Seam. He lives in the nicer part of town. The people from the Seam and the people from the other part usually don't get along too well.

Effie has us shake hands, and mine meet his briefly before I turn away, pain clawing at my heart. Why do we have to be pinned against each other life this? I hate the Capitol.

That Peeta kid and I are whisked away into the Justice Building. It's beautiful, I must admit, but the terrible turn of events ruins it. All I can do it stare at the floor and try my best to hold back my tears that are threatening to spill over. I sit in the room, waiting for visitors. Katniss and my mother enter almost immediately. Both have tear tracks all over their faces.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Prim," Katniss gasps. "I should've volunteered for you, but I was so in shock that I couldn't do anything."

"It's OK," I say, wrapping my arms around her neck. It gives me so much comfort to feel her arms around me. I break away after a moment and turn to my mother. She doesn't say anything, but the look in her eyes says it all. She embraces me and I simply stand there forever until the Peacekeeper is pulling them out. When I see them leaving, I suddenly burst into tears.

"Don't go!" I scream, reaching for them. I grasp Katniss's hand for a moment before she's pulled away and the door slams shut. I fall against the wall and cry and cry; I can't seem to stop myself. I don't know anybody else, so who would visit? Gale maybe. But really, who else do I know?

Suddenly the door opens. I stand up quickly and wipe my eyes on my sleeve. In enters a girl that looks like Katniss's age, and I have never seen her before. She is wearing a neat, simple dress, with a mockingjay pin clasped on near the collar.

"Hi, Prim." The girl smiles at me. "We have never met, but Katniss tells me all about you."

I stare at her.

"I'm Madge, the mayor's daughter. Your sister sells strawberries to my dad," she says. All I do is nod. "And, I know that I don't really know you, but I thought, that if you didn't already have a token from District Twelve, well, then, I've got one for you." She unclasps the pin from her dress and starts pinning it to mine. "A mockingjay," she says softly. "Something to show the Capitol that they don't own you. Or me. Or anybody."

All I can say is, "I can't take this. It's yours."

Madge smiles. "No; it's yours now. Please, take it, I'd feel better if you do." I nod, then smile.

"Thank you." Madge smiles back, gives me a hug, and leaves.

I stare at the mockingjay pin. It's beautiful. I love it.

I get one more visitor. It's Gale.

"Oh, Prim, I'm so sorry," he says, embracing me. "I feel so terrible."

"At least it wasn't Katniss," I say. "Who would take care of mother and I?" I sound like a baby. Gale smiles.

"I would, of course. I would never let your family starve."

I laugh a bit. "Why are we talking about this?" I ask. "Have you seen my mother? Is she all right?" Gale nods.

"Katniss is taking her home to get her a strong cup of tea."

I nod. "Good." Before I know it, the five minutes are up, and the Peacekeeper is taking Gale out. I sigh and settle myself against the wall. No one else would visit me. Soon, too soon, the Peacekeeper is removing me from the room, and I'm boarding the train. As I'm forced in, I turn around and take one last look at District Twelve.


	2. Chapter 2

I have never seen so much food in my life. The tables are stacked high, and servants are still bringing it in. Although I'd very much like to inhale it all, I know that I must take it slow, because I don't want to get a stomachache because I've eaten too much. Peeta Mellark seems to be thinking along the same lines, except that he's eating is food slowly, although he is eating a lot. I'm eating mine slowly, along with not eating much.

"Well, I'm glad that this year's tributes show a bit of manners," Effie Trinket sniffs. "You have no idea what I've been through. No one seems to know the use of a fork, they just use their hands. Gorge themselves; it's disgusting." I shoot a look at Effie, and my eye catches Peeta's. He grins and continues on with his food.

Haymitch doesn't show up at dinner at all, except to swagger in at the very last moment and puke on the floor. Effie looks at him with complete disgust.

"I'll go clean him up," Peeta offers. He gets up and helps Haymitch up; he is now sprawled on the floor.

"I'll come, too," I say immediately. Anything to get away from Effie. I don't know what it is about her, but I can barely stand myself in her presence. Too delicate, too frail; she's like a grown-up child.

Cleaning up Haymitch is just in my area. I have a feeling that this will be the closest to home that I'll ever get.

Peeta and I very soon find out that just wiping Haymitch off obviously isn't going to work. When Peeta suggests that we wash him off in the shower, I offer to do it. Peeta gives me a weird look. I let him do it.

But I don't want to leave; I like the company. I don't want to have to be by myself, in my room. It leaves me too much time to think about what's ahead. And trust me, I _don't _want to do that. I don't want to be reminded of Katniss, of my mother, of Lady, of Buttercup... I cover my face and turn it away, so Peeta doesn't see the tears running down my face. I turn around and run out of the room.

No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, thoughts of Katniss and Mother, of the Games, of everything, push their way into my head. I can't stop them; there's nothing I can do. I want to see Katniss again, and I would especially love to hear my mother's voice. Just one time. I remember the Mockingjay, given to me from a girl I just met today. I twist it off of my dress and look at it. I feel the cold metal under my skin, and I hold it to my skin. My one last reminder of home.

The next day I'm woken up early, Effie looming in my face.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" she trills. "We have breakfast, and a big, big day!" I can't imagine what there is to do, because surely we won't arrive at the Capitol today. Nevertheless, I peel the covers off of me and dress in the outfit Effie hands me. Just a simple, green outfit that fits me just right. I pin my Mockingjay on the front, where I can see it. Last night, I cried myself to sleep, hugging the small pin, which was my last reminder of home.

Home. I can't start crying again; it'll only make Effie feel bad. And after all that she's done for us, I couldn't stand to make her down. Because if she's down, you can bet that no one else will be happy. She's like Mama. If mama ain't happy, nobody's happy.

"Thanks, Effie," I mumble, following her to the breakfast room.

Peeta is already seated, along with Haymitch, although he seems shaky. Whether Peeta allowed him drinks, that's up for debate. Peeta nods at me and I smile at him. If anyone in the world needs a smile right now, that would be Peeta and I. He just looks away and concentrates on his food. I avert my eyes away from him and smile at Haymitch. He looks like he could use one, too.

I'm handed a mug full of brown liquid. "What's this?" I ask Effie curiously.

"Hot chocolate," Effie says. As if that explains everything. Peeta sniffs it.

"It smells good," he offers. I let out a small laugh. He glances at me, and the corners of his mouth curl up ever so slightly. I guess that's as close to a smile as I'll get.

I lift the cup to my mouth and take a small sip, almost dropping the mug. "It's hot!" I say. Effie looks at me weirdly.

"Did you expect it to be cold?" This time Peeta laughs, and at first I don't get the joke. A few seconds later, it dawns on me. _Hot _chocolate. Oh, very funny. Good job, Prim.

I down the hot chocolate. Whatever chocolate is, it tastes good. I ask for another cup as I pile a couple of rolls on my plate. The idea of eating slowly and not much is abandoned. After 5 rolls and another cup of hot chocolate, I accept some fruit that Effie offers me. It's nothing like the fruit we have back in Twelve. It's sweet, tangy, juicy, and I can't stop eating it. The strawberries taste nothing like I imagined. I had a taste of strawberries back home, and although those were good, these are even better.

Finally, when I think that I can't down another bite, Effie offers me some 'pancakes'. I taste them, fall in love, and proceed to eat three more.

After breakfast I go to the bathroom and throw it all up. The food was worth it, though.

Sometime around midday, Effie announces that we're at the Capitol.

"So soon?" I gasp. From what I've learned at school, the Capitol is thousands of miles away from District Twelve.

Effie laughs. "We have to be on schedule, don't we? Want to have plenty of time to enjoy the Capitol before- before-" she stops. It just occurs to me that Effie might actually be _sad _about the Hunger Games. I just imagined all Capitol people to enjoy the Hunger Games. Well, you learn something new everyday.

We pull into the station, and Peeta and I are marched out. I gasp. The Capitol is so- so- so- _beautiful. _High, brightly colored towers, and the _people_- they're everything from dyed orange to tattooed gold. They don't even appear human. I don't know whether to be intimidated by them or fascinated. I finally settle for _undetermined_.

My prep team is something else. Octavia, Flavius, and Venia. What weird names. Green hair, gold tattoos- I don't even want to look at them. They have high, trilly voices that want to give me a headache. But I can't help but like them. They're as un-human as you can get. It's mean, but true.

After I'm stripped of everything I'm wearing, they obsess over the state of my body. The hair has to go. The golden braids are beautiful. My eyes are the right shape and color. My skin has a perfect complexion. I don't even know what that means. They bring out great wads of wax paper and paste them on my legs. Bewildered as ever, I watch them grip the ends and tear them off. I try to hold back tears of pain. It hurts, and by the time they're through, I'm red and stinging all over. Then they "grease me down" by rubbing grease all over me. I don't get the point, really. Then they leave and I'm left naked, waiting for my personal stylist. I feel bare with no clothes on, and try to prepare myself for more odd disfigurements. Surprisingly, my stylist, Cinna, is pretty normal, besides a little gold eyeliner. I decide to like him. He looks at me all over, and I just stand there awkwardly. Finally he lets me slip on a robe and we sit down to talk about my costume. An hour later, I'm dressed in a miner's suit with a headdress that Cinna says he's going to set on fire. I'm terrified.

Surprisingly, the ride isn't that bad. I just sit there with a flaming headdress and smile and wave at the Capitol people. They fall in love with me, as Cinna puts it. Peeta's stylist, Portia, agrees.

That night we have a lovely dinner, and I'm sent to bed in a fancy room. I love the shower. Hot, cold, foamy, and in all different colors. I stand in there for an hour. Even better, I don't have to fuss over my hair, because there's this ball thingy that dries and separates my hair when I touch it. I climb into bed, and all the day's events wash over me. I feel guilty that I actually _enjoyed _today, which I shouldn't be doing, right? I don't know. I'm so confused about everything, about what I should feel. And Peeta, why can't he at least _talk _to me? Or at least a smile? He's barely looked at me the whole time. I mean, I know that I shouldn't really care, because I'm going to end up having to kill him in the arena, but still. We're from the same District; shouldn't we support each other?

_Kill. _For some reason that word flows through my mind. I can't kill anybody! I can't! I can't stand anybody in pain, I just can't. I proved that when Katniss tried to teach me how to hunt. Poor squirrel! How could Katniss do that to another living thing? It's despicable.

I continue to think about that for the longest time, and before I fall asleep, one more thought crosses my mind.

_I'm going to be eaten alive in the Games._

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for my reviewer! I appreciate it so much, and thank you for the advice and stuff. Also, I must apologize for the shortness of the chapter. The time Prim spends in the Capitol is going to be a bit awkward, because I don't have the book with me to go off of.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Effie wakes me with promises of another "Big, big, big day!" I pull on my clothes, brush my teeth, and head down to breakfast.

I'm not that hungry, and not even promises of hot chocolate can stir my appetite. Because I know what's next. Training. Oh, what fun. I evaluate myself, and soon realize quickly that I have no skill with weapons whatsoever. I've never held a knife, a sword, a swear, a bow and arrow before- the only thing sharp that I've ever touched was a shot. But I figure that I'll do alright at the edible plants section; because of Katniss I can name a few off the top of my head.

Effie races us down to the Training Center, and although we're early a fair number of Tributes are all already there.

"Well, I have to leave you two now; unfortunately, I can't stay," Effie says, leaving us. Peeta and I stand there awkwardly for a moment until Peeta mutters something about tying knots and leaves. I stand alone for a minute more until I make up my mind and head toward the edible plants section. The guy there looks relieved that someone came. He shows me a couple ones that I never heard of before, and I recite the few that I do know. The guy congratulates me, and I leave.

Seeing all the Tributes, it crosses my mind that I should get some allies. It's obvious that I won't survive long on my own; my incapability to be, well, dangerous, is quite laughable.

Trying to remember the others from the Reaping, I think of who would want to team with a 12-year-old. _How about another 12-year-old, _I think, spotting a small dark-skinned girl that I was pretty sure was named Rue. Gathering up as much courage as I can muster, I walk up to her and mumble nervously, "Er, hi."

The girl looks up. She is at the tying knots section, a piece of rope in her hand.

"Hello," she says quietly.

"Uh, I-'m-I'm Prim." Wow, that sounded dumb.

"I know. I recognized you from the Reaping."

"You're Rue, aren't you?"

She smiles. "Yeah."

Seeing that this is getting nowhere, I try another brave stab at conversation. "What District do you come from?"

"Eleven." Rue returns to her knot.

"Right," I say, not able to think of anything else to say. "I'm from District Twelve. Hey, we're- we're right next to each other."

Rue returns her gaze to me. "Don't you do coal mining?"

"Um, yep." On the other side of the line, I realize how hard it is to come up with a good reply. Suddenly, I decide that I like this girl.

"I read about it in school. What do you girls do all day?"

"What do you mean, what do we do?"  
>"I mean, well, you obviously can't go work in the mines," she says, as if this piece of information is obvious.<p>

"Well, yeah, yeah we can," I say, confused. "Why would we not?"

"Isn't it dangerous, though?" Rue asks thoughtfully. "I mean, it wouldn't be safe for a girl as young as you to go into the ground and mine coal all day. You could die."

I laugh, finally getting what she's saying. "Oh, no, it's not like that. We start working in the mines when we're 18. No, before that, we just go to school."

Rue nods. "Interesting. We all work in the fields, no matter what your age." She stops. "I mean, well, a 2-year-old can't, obviously, but you get what I'm saying."

I nod. "Yeah. That's interesting; how different Districts all are, even though we all are controlled by the same thing.

"Well, wouldn't it be boring if we all did the same things?" Rue asks.

"I guess." This conversation is not going at all like I had planned, but weirdly, I am enjoying myself.

"Are you any good at tying knots?" Rue asks me. I shrug.

"I'm not quite sure. I've never really tied a knot before, so I guess that this is the time to find out." I grab a rope and try to copy the complicated knot that Rue's tying. I fail.

"This is tiring me," I say, throwing the rope down. "What do you say we ditch this and go to camouflage?"

Rue looks at me. "Well, I guess."

Just now do I realize how controlling I sounded. "Well, that is, if you want to. I mean, you can stay here if you want, I just thought..." I trail off. Rue laughs.

"No, no, you're fine. I'm relieved that I have someone that I can talk to, besides my District partner, Thresh."

I nod. "I understand what you mean. My partner, Peeta, will hardly look at me, and he's hardly said a word to me at all. I don't understand why we just can't get along." Of course, I understand perfectly why it wouldn't be such a good idea to get close to another tribute, but I don't say anything. I can't. We lapse into silence, but it isn't awkward. We are both thinking hard, wondering why this has to happen to us. It does no good to sit and complain, but it's better to vent it to yourself than to take it out on someone else.

I find out that I'm no good and camouflage, but Rue isn't too bad. With the knots, I wouldn't exactly call her awesome, but she does pretty good. Better than me, anyway. I'm beginning to think that I'm only good for remembering edible plants. And that will _not _keep me alive in the Games.

After the camouflage station, we go to see if we're any good at a bow and arrow. Katniss tried to show me one, once, but all I did was fuss over the hurt squirrel. We're handed a bow and arrow, and Rue and I try to aim at the targets. Mine hits the very edge of the target, but falls off. Rue scoffs at me, but I ask her if she can do any better.

"We'll find out," she mutters, gripping the side of the bow and aiming. A moment later she lets go. The arrow almost hits the director of the station.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm no good that this, maybe I shouldn't try..." Rue rolls of the list of apologies.

"That's what practice is for, right? You're OK," the director reassures her in a bored voice. We try a few more times, but I'm not enjoying myself. Katniss makes it look so easy, but it's not. The string is stiff and hard to pull back. It's hard to see exactly where I'm aiming, so when I _thought _I was aiming for the center, it didn't even hit the target. I find out quickly that you have to measure off a bit of where you're aiming to go. I try it that way, and this time my aim is a lot worse than the last. Rue and I finally give up and leave.

We head to the throwing knives section. I figure that since they're lighter and a lot easier to aim because you can throw it that I won't do too bad. I quickly find out that it's a lot easier said than done. We laugh at each other, and, before we know it, it's time to head back for lunch. As we leave the training area, I smile at Rue. "Ally?" I ask, holding out my hand. She smiles back.

"Ally."

**OK... so... sorry for the delay, I hope that you haven't left me! My life is extremely busy, and I made the mistake of starting two fanfics at once. Anyways, I have two choices for you: We can have the chapters a bit short, like maybe a little shorter than this one, or equivalent to this chapter, and I can post ever two or so days. Or, we can have the chapters nice and long, like long, and I can update about every week and a half. So, I'd like you to tell me which you'd prefer. Thanks! And, also, does anyone know what Rue's weapon is? I can't remember if it was mentioned in the books at all, and I don't have it with me currently. **


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days fly by. We do a couple more training sessions, and Rue and I grow closer and closer. It's very risky, and I know what it'll break me later on, but I'm in desperate need of a friend. Of comfort. Of happiness. Both Rue and I are very good at hiding our fears. When we're with each other, we act happy. The other Tributes give us weird looks, and we know that there are whispers behind our backs about us. But we pay no attention to them. Just two, happy 12-year old's about to get sent to our deaths. Yeah, that's about it. Except for, we pretend to be happy. We pretend that the smiles are sincere, we pretend that our laughs (though very scarce) are real. We pretend that everything's fine.

But, of course it's not. At all. Because Rue and I know, the closer we grow together, the more it's going to affect us when we get in the arena. We try to ignore it, try to find a way to get around it. We decide to be allies until the final five tributes are alive. Then we're going to go off on our own and cross our fingers that someone else kills the other. And, if we don't make it that far, at least it'll be nice to see a friendly face before I die. It's cruel, I know. But it's the way life is.

Before long, it's time for our individual training sessions. Being the girl from Twelve, I'm last. Everyone is huddled into one room, and I swear it is so quiet in there that we can hear the silence. I watch all the tributes, one by one, disappear from the room. Finally, it's only Rue, Peeta, and I left. For some reason, things are awkward between Rue and I today, and even more awkward still with Peeta. We never do get along that well. We sit there and stare at our feet, study every single detail about our shoes. Finally, when it seems like I've memorized every stitch in my shoe, Peeta clears his throat.

"We can't keep going on like this. We need to decide if we want to be allies or not."

I look up at him. "Rue and I, allied with you?" My voice is cracky.

Peeta looks at me in surprise. "You _and _Rue? Well..." he trails off, and I get the gesture. What an impression it'll make on everyone for him to be allied with the twelve-year-olds in the arena.

"Oh, well, we don't _have _to be allies, do we?" I venture carefully.

"I guess not." Peeta seems to be thinking this over very carefully. "Well, yes, I guess we don't have to, but it would be kind of convenient. I mean, I know nothing about taking care of myself if I get hurt, or any edible plants. You, well, no offense, but you're not good with weapons. I think that it would be better for everyone if you stayed away from anything sharp or dangerous. That way, we'll get a lot more done."

"Rue's pretty handy," I say, jumping to our defenses.

"Well, yes, I never said anything offensive about Rue at all. I just- listen, it's too difficult to explain, but it'd be better if we were allies."

"And Rue?" I check.

Peeta nods reluctantly. "And Rue."

"Good, then. Rue, does that sound reasonable?"

"You and I look for edible plants, nurse wounds, and Peeta hunts and fights?" I nod. "I don't like it. We're not weak; we can take care of ourselves. Thank you for the offer, Peeta, but I think it would be better if we stayed by ourselves."

"What? Why?" Peeta sounds let down.

"What are we going to do when it's just us left?" Rue challenges. "What's gonna happen then? How do we know that Peeta's just not going to kill us in the night? We can never know, Prim, we can't. It would just be safer, I think."

"But-" I begin.

"Prim, please. Can I talk to you, by yourself?" I glance at Peeta.

"I guess."

Rue pulls me off to the side. "This is just too weird. Peeta has been ignoring you the whole time we've been at the Capitol, and now all of the sudden he wants to be your ally. He's a creep, Prim, I don't like him. Please, we'll be fine by ourselves."

I look into Rue's pleading eyes, turn around and look at Peeta, then turn my attention one last time to Rue. "I guess so. It is a little weird."

Relief floods Rue's voice. "Oh, good. Thank you, Prim." She smiles at me. I smile back.

"We've made out decision. Like Rue said, thanks for the offer, but we're going to turn it down. Sorry, Peeta."

"OK, yeah, that's fine."

Rue and I sit down again and turn our attention to our shoes. Not long after, Rue is called in.

"Good luck," I say to her as she leaves.

"You too."

The next 20 minutes are awkward. After turning down Peeta's offer, the air had taken an uncomfortable feeling. I try to ignore it, and just stare at my shoes. Finally Peeta is called, and then me. I take a shaky breath and enter.

Since I'm the last tribute, it seems like all the Gamemakers are tired of this, and most are drunk. I try to ignore them and not look in their direction. I play around with the knives and arrows, but quickly leave and go to the camouflage section, hoping to do something at least a little impressive. I end up painting flowers that look nothing like flowers all over my arms. I eventually give up and spend the rest of my time at the knots station. One of the Peacekeepers burps and tells me I can go.

I'm as anxious as ever to know the results. Everyone is crowded together. I don't really pay attention to anyone's score except mine and Rue's. She, surprisingly, pulls off a 10. I gape at her in wonder and then turn my attention to the screen. I've missed Peeta's score, but I'm just in time for mine. The number I see on the screen in a...

**Haha! Cliffy! I know, I cut this one a bit short, because I felt like there has been too long a gap between my last post. I know, I promised I would update more often, but I have been sick this past week, and therefore I have done nothing but eat chocolate and watch TV. I do apologize, everyone is ooc, I'm working on that, and hopefully it'll be better. I don't remember what Rue was good at (like for her weapon), so if anyone can tell me that'd be great. Also, do you think that you can suggest me to other FanFic readers? I have only 2 viewers (you guys are amazing!) and I feel like I should have more. Anyway, thank you lots! And I do promise that we'll get the Games very shortly. I know things have been a bit boring, but I felt like it was kind of a have-to to add the conversation about the allies.**


	5. Chapter 5

...a three.

"Three?" I gasp and turn to Rue, who's looking at me with a puzzled look on her face. Laughter rings out among the crowd, and I cover my face in my hands, trying hard not to cry. Rue pats me on the back and says quietly, "It'll be alright."

"But now we won't get any sponsors!" I sob. "All because of my stupid three!"

"It's really not your fault. I'm sure you do your best. Please, don't cry." Rue still seems stunned at her score.

"I guess we should've snagged Peeta while we had the chance," I try to joke as we're pushed away. "He could've earned us a few sponsors."

"You don't need sponsors _or _Peeta to win the Games, I can tell you that. Trust me; we'll be fine. Don't cry, please, Prim."

"Right." I wipe away my few tears and sniffle slightly. "Right. Next is the interviews."

"Oh, fun," Rue mutters as we walk away.

"What'll be your interview angle?" I ask her. She turns thoughtfully to me.

"Hmm. Well, maybe quiet, shy, stuff like that."

"Me too," I agree, secretly thinking that that's not going to win us any sponsors. "Maybe we won't need sponsors at all; maybe we can win just off of pure talent."

Rue looks at me, and we both burst out laughing.

Interviews are on us before we know it. I'm with Flavius, Octavia, and Venius again, although they tell me with pride that there's really nothing to work on me. So then I'm left with Cinna. He's not shrilly and silly like the other Capitol people; he's almost normal. I almost like him, although I don't really like Capitol people. It's something that I really need to get over.

After a lot of consideration, I'm fitted in a simple yellow sundress, and then we sit down and talk about shoes. Cinna squashes the idea of heels immediately. "We want to keep you young," he tells me. Finally we go with plain white flats. Cinna does something magical with my hair, something he calls a French braid. It's beautiful, plaited neatly down my back. Little makeup is applied on me; just some base to even out my skin tone. Like Cinna says, he wants to keep me young. I decide to like him.

Peeta and I arrive at the interview together. My hands are shaking uncontrollably, and I look at the exotic Caesar Flickerman, the interviewer. Thankfully, he makes everyone look good, so I shouldn't have too much trouble.

District One starts, and I decide to make use of my time, noting something about each of the Tributes that will hopefully help me in the Games. District One's boy tribute, as I remember from the Reapings, is named Marvel. He seems ordinary, but, he is older than me, so, obviously he is posed as a threat to me. The three minutes are up and we're off to District One's girl tribute. I learn real quick that she is one to seriously watch out for. First, she's one of the Careers, so obviously she has an advantage over everyone.

I continue to take a quick note of all of the tributes. Rue does a good enough job; at least she doesn't forget what to say, and her answers are alright. In my opinion, she is sponsor worthy.

Before I know it, it's my turn. I walk shakily to the front, and sit down. Caesar Flickerman smiles warmly at me and begins the interview.

"So, Prim, so young, so young. How does it feel to be a tribute in the Hunger Games, knowing that your age will be a disadvantage?"

"I don't-" I squeak out, stop, and begin again. "I don't think that my age will matter much in the Games. It just depends on your skill." Caesar nods.

"So true. What was your first thought when you heard your name being reaped from the reaping ball?"

"Well, just, just shock, you know," I say, completely forgetting what I felt.

"Shock. Well, yes, don't we all?" I nod tentatively.

Overall, the interview isn't fun at all. I find out very quickly that I have stage fright terribly, but good Caesar covers for me and makes me seem not _that _bad, I guess. It's a relief when the buzzer goes off and I leave the stage. I just manage to smile at Rue before we're whisked off.

It's the night before the Games. I can't stop shaking, and I know that I won't get any sleep at all tonight. So I jump in the shower, knowing that this will probably be my last one. I vent off all my emotion in the water, letting the bright yellow bubbles sit on my hand. I watch them until they pop.

Finally, I force myself to get out of the shower and crawl into the bed, covered in fluffy pajamas. I see Katniss, my mother, Lady, and Buttercup over and over again that night. I don't know how, but I manage to fall into an uneasy sleep, waking up many times.

Finally, unable to maintain a constant sleep, I sit up and go over what the plan will be once we start the Games. Run and get things from the Cornucopia, hide out in the forest until there's only four tributes left, then go our separate ways. That was the plan.

I wake up to Effie Trinket shaking me awake. We eat what might be my last meal, then I'm sent in the launch tube. The outfit suggests a forest, or at least something similar.

The launch pad shoots up, and we're allowed the full 60 seconds to observe the arena. Just like I guessed, it's a forest. Just a normal forest, with a big lake. The cornucopia is sat on a field just before the trees start. The most valuable things are placed towards the center, while the least valuable are scattered more on the outside. I notice a small backpack near me, which I make a mental note to grab. Before I'm fully prepared, the minute is up and I hear, "Ladies and Gentlemen, let the 74th Hunger Games begin!"

**Sorry this is a short chapter, but I wanted the start of the Hunger Games to be a new chapter. Also, I didn't add that much about the Capitol, because, like I mentioned, I don't have the book to go off of so everything will be really awkward in the beginning. Anyway, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

For a moment I forget what's going on. Then I remember, and dash off of my plate, grabbing the backpack directly in front of me. I look for Rue, but it's kind of hard because somebody takes a stab at me with a long spear. I barely miss it and keep on running, picking up random things along the way. Then I dash into the forest, stopping just long enough to catch my breath.

On the spur of the moment, I decide not to descend too deeply into the forest; I need to find Rue. So I put my things in the pack and start climbing up the nearest tree. Or, at least, try to climb the tree. I'm not too successful, though, so I eventually just end up hiding in a bush. It really is a miracle that nobody has passed by yet.

I take the time to examine what I have. The backpack has an empty water bottle in it, a box of crackers, and beef jerky. My breakfast suddenly seems a million years away, but I force myself to put the food back in the pack and continue on with what I have. Stashed in the bottom, almost hidden away, are what appear to be sunglasses, but when I put them on to try them out they do nothing. With disgust I toss it back into my pack. A small knife, light jacket, and a camouflage sheet-thingy are all that I have besides. With amazement I wonder how I was able to find such luxuries. I must've ran right through the middle of it all without realizing it. Oh well. Good for me, right?

About fifteen minutes later I decide that the bloodbath is probably over and exit my hiding place. During my time hiding I counted seven cannons. Each time I winced, hating myself when I thought, _Seventeen more left... _what has happened to me? I shake my head and peek out through the trees. At first I see nothing, and I'm just about to turn around to search for Rue, when I feel a spearhead jam into my back. I turn around in fear to stare straight into the eyes of District Two's boy tribute, Cato.

"Well hello there, girly," he cackles. "Too easy, too easy. Should I kill you now, or keep you as my prisoner?"

A knot slowly is forming in my throat. I swallow slowly. _Stay strong, Prim... _But I can't. Tears start to well up in the corners of my eyes. Inside, I am pleading, _please, keep me as your prisoner, please spare me... _I end up saying nothing.

"Tough shell, are you?" He turns over his shoulder. "Clove! I got a girl!" I stare at Cato in disgust. He thinks that he can make as much noise as he wants, be as careless as he wants, only because he's a Career.

Clove comes out of the greenery. A small smile creeps up on her face. "Keep her, Cato. I think we might just have some fun." She stares at me with cold eyes, and I stare back at her with my teary ones while I try to figure out her meaning. _Have some fun? What does she mean by that? _

"What have you got for me?" The Career grabs my backpack from me. Cato pulls me roughly in front of him, and I feel his knife tip digging into my back.

"Make one move, and all I have to do is push." I gulp and nod frantically. I hope that Katniss and my mother aren't watching this right now. It would break their hearts.

I am led out of the forest and right back into the field, by the lake. The Cornucopia is picked clean, and the Career's treasure is in stacks around their camp. It amazes me at how wide in the open everything is.

Standing guard by the supplies are District One's tributes Marvel and Glimmer.  
>"Why haven't you killed her yet?" Marvel calls to Cato. He shakes his head grimly.<p>

"Ask Clove."

"She's puny, has no apparent skill, she's not even dangerous to us. Just kill her now."

"I have my reasons," Clove spits. "And not for _her _ears, either." She jabs me roughly with her knife, and I wince slightly as blood drips down my arm.

"We can't sit around all day watching her, though," Glimmer breaks in, glaring at me through slitted eyes.

"Make _him _watch her," Cato says nastily, nodding toward District Three's boy tribute. I don't recall his name. He is bent over on the ground, muttering to himself and drawing pictures in the dirt.

"I don't know why we need him, either," Marvel interjects. "He's useless."

"He claims he can reset the land mines. Besides, he's not doing us any apparent harm, is he?" Clove says.

"Just one more Tribute to take care of," Cato mutters.

"We don't have to feed him; he can get his own food," Clove argues.

"But then we have to set a guard with him, follow him around everywhere; it's just much less of a hassle to kill him." Cato stares at the boy with relish.

"Give him time," Clove says roughly, shoving her partner.

"Can we just get on with this, please?" Glimmer says. "Lyssa and Crag will be back soon." I assume that they are District Four's tributes.

Cato drags me to the boy. "We have a job for you. Watch the girl for us, and we'll feed you."

The boy looks up from his drawings. He nods silently, then continues on with his work. "Tie her up, and keep her away from the supplies." He tosses me at the boy, then leaves. The boy takes me softly by the arm and walks me to the supply pile. He seems less hostile, so I decide to go out on a limb and introduce myself.

"I'm Prim, you?" I say tentatively, almost whispering. The boy ignores me for a moment as he sifts through the supplies, finally coming up with a rope.

"Isaac." His voice is so quiet that at first I don't even realize that he spoke. Then he looks up at me with sad, blue eyes, and grabs my hands, slowly starting to wrap the rope around them. He is soft and gentle at it, not tugging and not pulling. I secretly think that he wouldn't be with the Careers if he had his choice.

Finally my hands are all tied up. I tug on them, expecting the rope to be loose, but get a surprise when I find I can't even twist my wrists. I look up at Isaac in surprise.

After I'm all tied up (which takes a short amount of time) Isaac pushes me low into the bushes. I look into his eyes, expecting to see hardness, but instead care and concern. He then goes back to his drawings.

I don't quite know what to do now. I'm tied up, being kept prisoner by the Careers, and will probably die by tomorrow. I'm helpless.

I figure that I'm shielded from the cameras in here, so I finally let the tears roll. My eyes get all puffy and I can't even wipe my nose. I just have to sit there, tugging at the rope tied to tightly around me. I try to figure out what I think of Isaac. His eyes and actions say one thing, but his intentions are entirely different. I can't decide if he's on the Career's side or not. At first I was convinced that he wasn't, but now, as I sit there in the bushes, I'm pulled to a different conclusion. He just feels pity for me. It would probably be better if Cato just killed me on the spot. I wince as I imagine his spearhead going all the way through my back. Instead there's just a rough cut and ragged flesh, which delivers plenty of pain in itself. Then there's the cut on my arm, delivered by the knife of Clove. Hers wasn't as hard as Cato's, but it still hurts.

I instead dwell on the words of Clove. What does she plan on doing with me? I shake my head; I am completely and entirely nonplussed. Nothing is making sense at this point.

The sky darkens, and I count 1 more cannon. This one doesn't have as much an effect on me as the others did. Maybe that's because I'm so helpless for myself that I'm losing all interest in everyone else. Suddenly, the bushes to my right shake. I jump what seems a mile, and get a bigger surprise to see Peeta crouching in them. Without warning, I burst into tears.

"What are you doing? You're going to get killed!" I exclaim.

"I'm coming to save you," Peeta said simply.

I hear voices to my right, and I suddenly understand Clove's intentions.

"No! Peeta, you have to leave! Everything's all set up!"

Too late. Peeta is jerked backward with so much force that the wind is knocked out of him. I see Cato through the branches, spear in hand. I see him bring it down, and I see it tear into the flesh of Peeta.

**Haha! Cliffy! I'm so mean to you guys :P Anyway, there's nothing really to say on this chapter, except for I think Clove may be a little ooc. Oh well.**


	7. I really am sorry, guys

**I really am sorry about this guys, not updating in a while. And you probably thought that this was a chapter, but it's not, sorry. Anyways, I know that we're not supposed to use a chapter for author's notes, but this one was important and I am in no way close to the end of my chapters.**

**So I'm going to be very busy from now until the end of school (May 27), so I don't think that I'll be able to update that frequently ._. The reason why is I have to work on stories in two different classes, two separate stories. I really am sorry, guys. Please don't delete me from your favorites or alerts. Things will be back up and running once summer starts.**


	8. Chapter 7

The scream never escapes my throat. Peeta is dead before he hits the ground. The cannon seems to pierce my soul, and my mind goes numb. All that I'm capable of thinking is, _Why? Why Peeta? _All I can do is stare at Peeta, spear through his back, a pool of blood quickly forming around him. Finally a groan escapes my throat.

"No..." I finally realize why Clove wanted to keep me. She knew that Peeta was going to come and try to save me. She is pretty smart, and I hate her for it. I have never hated anyone before, so at first the feeling quite surprises me. But then I embrace it, letting it eat every part of my soul, consuming every pore in my body. I want to dissolve on the spot, to be gone, to escape this horrible pain. Even though I barely know Peeta, it seems like I am suffering a personal loss. Somehow, we had this special connection, even though we only shared a couple of words. Maybe if I had chosen to be his ally, things would've gone differently. Peeta would still be alive. I wouldn't be captured. Rue wouldn't be all by herself in the forest with more than a dozen people that want to kill her.

Someone is speaking, off in the distance, and even though the pain is more than I can bear, I try hard to register them in my mind.

"Your plan has worked, and the boy is dead. Now we kill the girl." _Now we kill the girl... what girl? _I'm jolted out of my shock. I'm the girl, and they're going to kill me! But escape seems impossible.

Suddenly, I'm tugged roughly from behind, out of the bush. I wince in pain as the ropes rub against my skin, and blood rises to the surface of my cuts. The scream starts to escape my throat, but a hand closes over my mouth and catches it.

"If you want to live, be quiet and cooperate." I know that voice from somewhere, but at the moment, I can't think of where. I just numbly obey because somewhere in the back of my mind I'm aware that this might be my only chance to stay alive.

I'm dragged across the ground and behind the stack of supplies. As I slide painfully across the ground, I watch the Careers scatter into the forest. I vaguely wonder what's wrong with them, but don't worry too much on the subject.

"You are safe here, for the moment." I widen my eyes as I remember where I've heard the voice. It's Isaac!

"What are you doing?" I manage to say.

"I'm saving you," he says, starting to untie the ropes binding my hands. This time he is more rough, and not as careful. The situation is a lot more dire than it was last time.

"But you're with them," I say.

"I was. But after I saw what happened to your friend, and what was going to happen to you, I changed my mind. This isn't how the Games should be played. They kill with so much ease; they don't even try. I feel ashamed that I ever decided to ally with them."

"They were going to kill you, anyway," I suddenly say. He deserves to know the truth. "They kept you because you claimed that you could reposition and reactivate the land mines."

Isaac nods. "I figured, but I was alive at the moment, so I planned on figuring out what to do when that time came."

"Wait... so you can?" I ask.

"Can what?"  
>"Reactivate the land mines." Isaac furrows his brow.<p>

"It's definitely possible, yes."

We lapse into silence for a moment as Isaac finishes untying my hands. When they are free, I stretch my fingers and smile. "Thank you."

"Just help me untie the rest of you so we don't die. I'm not quite sure how much time we have left." I nod and begin to untie the ropes around me. In no time we are done. Isaac peeks around the supply pile.

"They don't even know that we're gone," he whispers. "I think that there's enough time to gather some supplies before we have to leave."

"What do we want?" I ask, staring at the pile. It's so big.

"First we need a backpack to carry everything. I'd say... one for you and one for me. Just be quiet while you look." I nod and begin rummaging as silently as I can through the pile. Just as I pull out a backpack, we hear Cato call,

"Hey! You! Boy from District Three! Where are you?" Sad. They don't even know his name.

"I'll be right back; just stay quiet and keep gathering supplies." He stands up and walks around the supply pile.

"Where's the girl?" I hear Lyssa from Four say as I pile food in my pack.

"She's gone. After the boy was killed, I left so the helicopter could take him. When I came back, she was gone."  
>"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" Cato sounds outraged.<p>

"I think you heard him the first time," Clove sneers. "He was stupid and left the girl alone, and now she's gone."

"I-I'll go find her, I promise," Isaac stutters, sounding panicked. "I'm sorry; it won't happen again."

"It better not. Be back by tonight, and you better have the girl with you, or we kill you on the spot." Cato says.

"Thank you for giving me a second chance."

"We shouldn't have to."

I hear Isaac walk back. "Did you get everything?" he asks.

"Two backpacks," I whisper, "full with food, a huge water bottle, sunglasses, and light jackets." Isaac smiles.

"Good. Let me fill the bottles in the lake and we'll be off." I hand them to him and he returns quickly, bottle full. I reach out my hand.  
>"Ally?" I say. Isaac grabs my hand and says,<p>

"Ally."

And we run into the forest.

**Again, not much to say on this chapter. May not be able to get one in by the end of school, but we'll see. Please review!**


	9. Chapter 8

"So, you're from District Twelve, right?" Isaac asks as we're building a makeshift shelter. I nod. "So what's your specialty? Mining?" I nod again. "Sorry, what I meant to say was, how does this help you in the Games?"

I shrug. "To tell the truth, I don't even know. It's obvious why District Twelve tributes never win," I laugh hollowly. "It's because we were given a useless talent."

"Don't say that," Isaac says as we finish up the makeshift shelter. We both move back to admire it.

"I think we did a pretty good job," I say thoughtfully, but in my head, I'm thinking, _This shelter sucks. The slightest bit of wind is going to tear it right down. _Isaac is obviously thinking the same thing, because he glances at me and says, "Uh huh."

We both sit down in our 'shelter' and eat some crackers. They are dry and stick to my throat, but after a long day of no food, I'm starving and swear I could eat the whole box. Unfortunately, we're forced to put it away early, before our stomachs are even full, and as I lay to down fall asleep for the night, I can hear and fell my stomach growl, whining for more food. I mentally tell it to be quiet and close my eyes, trying my best to sleep. I can't. I open my eye a slit, watching Isaac sit guard at the entrance. He yawns and rubs his eyes, obviously tired. I open my eyes fully, sit up, and say, "Why don't I keep watch now? It's probably my turn and I can't fall asleep anyway."

Isaac jumps and turns to face me. "Gosh, you scared me. Didn't know you woke up."

"Oh, no. I didn't wake up. I never fell asleep to start with." Isaac gets up and gestures to his spot.

"Be my guest," he says gratefully. I get up and move to the opening. Within a few seconds I can hear Isaac snoring. For a moment I ignore it, but after 10 minutes, I'm seriously annoyed. _His snoring is so _loud, I think. _It'll wake up anything within ten miles from here. _My drooping eyes shoot open. _No! _I think. I shake Isaac awake.

"What? What is it?" he murmurs sleepily. "Just a couple more minutes. It can't seriously be morning already."

"Get up!" I hiss. "Your snoring is so loud it'll alert everyone that we're here! You need to be quiet!"

Isaac takes this into consideration for a moment, then says, "I can't stop my snoring."

"Well you'll have to, or you can't sleep again!" I say. "Do you want Cato to come back looking for us? He'll know that we're gone by now."

"I know, I know," Isaac says, sounding slightly frustrated. "I can't stop my snoring, but I can't just not sleep."

"What do we do, then?" I say. "Huh?"

"Let me just take watch now," Isaac murmurs. "And gosh; you're sure grumpy."

I look at Isaac in surprise. I am? I've never been grumpy before! What's wrong with me? "I'm sorry," I say sincerely, looking at the ground. "I don't know what my problem is."

"Don't apologize," Isaac says, almost sternly. "You're excused from being grumpy; you're in the Hunger Games for crying out loud! It's not your fault, honestly."

I smile at Isaac. I guess so.

The next morning we eat a few more crackers, pack up, and leave. "So what exactly is our plan?" Isaac whispers to me.

"Fine Rue," I say instantly.

"Who?"

"Rue. The dark skinned girl from District 11. She's my other ally. We need to find her."

"Isn't she the other twelve-year-old?" Isaac says, sounding slightly put out. "Well, I guess. If it's the only option we have."

"What do you want to do, then?" I ask Isaac. He shrugs.

"Oh, I dunno; maybe kill Cato." I gasp.

"You're honestly thinking of killing?"

"I don't want to die," Isaac says.

"Neither do I, but I don't want to kill anybody, either!" I cry. "This is so unfair, having to be in this. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"You're gunna have to," Isaac mutters, pushing through the brush. After about ten minutes, I'm suddenly grabbed from behind and flung into the air. My scream barely has time to escape before I hit the ground, wind knocked out of me. I can hear Isaac and some other person scuffling around in the trees, and I pray that Isaac is winning. I open my eyes and see Cato, looming over Isaac with a knife in hand. I scramble to my feet.

"No!" I say, knocking it out of his hand. Cato looks at me.

"If you want it to be this way, then," he cackles, grabbing me by the throat with one hand. I can feel the pressure on my neck, and it's getting harder and harder to breath. "Help..." I mutter, barely able to stay conscious. Isaac gets up and leaps on top of Cato. Cato releases me, and I fall to the dirt, gasping for air and massaging my throat. Suddenly, I hear a sickening thud, and then a deep moan. I turn to see a glimmering knife sticking of Isaac's cheek. I scream.

"No! No! Isaac!" He's barely hanging on; chest hardly moving. I run to him and hold his head in my lap. "No... no..." I mutter, starting to cry. "Please hold on... don't leave me..." But I know that there's no hope. Isaac's going to die, and there's nothing I can do about it.

"Now it's time for you, girly," Cato says nastily, removing the knife from Isaac's cheek. Blood gushes out of the wound and fills my lap. I roll just in time, but the knife still pierces my arm. Pain shoots up and down it. I start crying even harder.

"Please... I'll do whatever you want me to... just don't let me die..." I whimper.

"Too late," Cato laughs, wrenching his knife out of my arm. I groan in pain again. Cato lifts it over his head, aiming at my heart. I'm in too much pain and too much sorrow to move. I watch the knife swing down, but when it's an inch from my chest, Cato's thrown aside by an oncoming force. He's knocked to the ground. I open my eyes wide. _No! _I have to be hallucinating. Peeta is dead. But there he is, on top of Cato, punching him in the face.

"You-don't-touch-her!" Peeta bellows, delivering hard blows to the face. Cato tries to move aside, but his attempts are feeble because he's in too much shock. I'm in shock, too. Peeta's supposed to be dead. In horror, I watch Peeta grab the knife from Cato's hand, and stab in right through his chest. The cannon goes off almost immediately, and Peeta gets off Cato.

"No... you're supposed to be dead..." I mutter. He laughs.

"Well I'm not."

We both move over to look at Isaac. Surprisingly, he's still alive, but knocking on death's door.

"I'm sorry," Peeta murmurs, looking at Isaac.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," I sob, wiping my nose. Isaac stirs and opens his eyes one last time, saying, "Goodbye, Prim." Then he closes his eyes, takes his last breath, and stops moving. The cannon goes off. I start freaking out.

"NO! NO! Isaac, come back!" I grab his chest and cry into it. Peeta pulls me back.

"He's gone, Prim," he says softly. "And there's nothing you can do to make him come back. Now let's move so the helicopter can pick up the bodies." I allow Peeta to remove me from Isaac's body, but do so unhappily. He drags me away into the bushes, then lays me on the ground.

"I don't know what to do about it," Peeta says, inspecting my arm. "You tell me."

I look at it for the first time. It's deep and the flesh is ragged It's hard to see though, because of all the blood. "The only thing we can do is to wash it out with water and then tie it with come cloth." Peeta nods.

"I'm on it. You just go to sleep; you need the rest." I nod, close my eyes, and within seconds I'm asleep.

**I am so so so SO sorry for the humongous wait. I was super busy, but I must confess, I kind of forgot :l well anyway, here it is, and I made it extra long to make up for the extra long wait. I hope that you guys haven't all left me. I have to say though, that I won't be able to update as much :/ sorry about that.**


	10. Chapter 9

The next few days are slow, and we don't do much. Peeta is still recovering from the gash in his side, and there isn't much I can do with my arm. Cato had cut right into the muscle, and scraped the bone.

On the bright side, Cato was gone, and Clove nor the rest of the Careers are to be seen. Once or twice we see a glimpse of another tribute sneaking through the trees, but we are too tired and in too much pain to do anything.

We are recovering, but the going is slow. We are running out of food fast, and from the number of times we have to change our dressings, Peeta's shirt is gone and so are my sleeves. A little hole in the bottom of my pants show that we tried to use our pant material, but it was too rough, and just ripped our cuts even more.

"We can't go on like this," Peeta says one evening. I just nod, agreeing with him. "We're running out of food, and for the past couple of nights no one has died. The Gamemakers are going to get bored soon, and when that happens, the outcome isn't going to be good." Prim had to agree with him.

"I can try and hunt," she offered.

"If anyone will do the hunting, it'll be me," Peeta said, sitting up. He winced and grabbed his side.

"Not in that state, you won't," Prim objected. "I'll be fine; I promise. And I still need to find Rue."

Peeta sighs. "Fine. Go find Rue. But don't come back until you have food," he warns me teasingly.

"Don't worry; I'll bring you back a feast," I say, smiling. Then I grab our backpack of supplies and riffle through it, trying to find the weapon that would suit me most. Finding that the sharp edges make me nervous, I abandon hunting and decide on collecting fruits and berries. They can't be that hard to find, can they? When Peeta isn't looking, a slip a piece of beef jerky in my jacket pocket. If Rue's in trouble, she'll need some protein to keep her strength up.

"Be back when I'm back," I tell Peeta. "If I'm not back by tonight, don't come looking for me."

"Oh?" Peeta raises his eyebrows.

"Either A: I died, B: I haven't gotten food, or C: Rue and I are either far from here and make a shelter somewhere else, or we're lost."

"You won't die," Peeta says, trying to pass it off as not a big deal.

"We'll see about that," I say. Right now, the odds are _not _in my favor. Then I get up to leave.

"Wait," Peeta says, grabbing something from the backpack and handing it to me. "You'll need this."

It's a small knife with a curved blade. Reluctantly I hand it back to him. "But the edges are sharp."

Peeta pushes it back to me. "Would you rather die? Just take the knife."

Reluctantly I take it. "Fine," I say, exiting our shelter. Once by myself, fear sets in, and oddly, I take comfort in the small blade in my hand. I squeeze the handle and tiptoe through the forest, grabbing berries, sniffing them, and, depending on my approval, I either throw them back or stuff them in my sack.

The forest is so peaceful and the weather is so wonderful that for a moment I forget that this is the Hunger Games. All my fears and worries fade away, and I can imagine this forest like the one back home in Twelve. I haven't been there often, but the time that really stands out was when Katniss tried to teach me how to hunt. That is _not _an experience I want to relive anytime soon.

Hours later, my back is stuffed full with berries. I'm pretty sure all of them are edible. At least by my father's standards, of course. And he was pretty smart about things like that. Suddenly, I hear the snap of a twig behind me. I pause, my fear slowly coming back. I first see Cato, alive in my mind. _He's dead, _I tell myself firmly. _He can't hurt you anymore. _But Clove, District One's tributes, and District Four's tributes are still out there. And there is no doubt in my mind that they want me dead. They want everyone dead.

My first instinct is to duck down and hide. And, seeing the situation I'm in, hiding doesn't seem like a bad idea. So I drop to the ground and try to hide myself among the bushes. Now that I'm level with the ground, I can see two feet standing no more than 4 yards away from me. They are the same old arena shoes, so I can't tell who it is. All I can do is sit here and wait for them to pass. Unless they've already seen me? Or heard me? I wasn't exactly being careful and quiet about my location. Thankfully, the feet don't move. They don't twitch. They stay motionless. For more than five minutes I crouch down in this uncomfortable position until the tribute finally moves. And they do something unexpected. They call out.

"Who is it?" The voice is sharp, confident; but not scared. Not trembling. At first I don't recognize the voice, but then it clicks. I stand up.

"Rue!" I exclaim. Her face hardens for a moment.

"Who are you?" she asks. I can't believe this.

"It's me, Rue! It's Prim!"

She does the unexpected. "So you've finally come back, huh? Think that I've suffered enough?"

"What are you talking about?" I ask, puzzled.

"Oh, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about. That first day in the Games, you ditched me. You grabbed your things and you ran. I called out to you, but did you listen? No. You just kept running, taking all the food with you. I had nothing. Nothing at all."

Tears well up in my eyes. "I'm really sorry, Rue. I really am. I didn't hear you or see you. I was scared. I didn't know what I supposed to do. I was alone."

"Oh, boo-hoo," Rue sneers. "At least you got food. Weapons. Shelter. I had nothing."

"Do you think that I was living in this big hut in the forest, with plenty of food, killing a tribute every other day? Isaac- he-he died. Right in front of me. I saw Peeta die. I was attacked by Cato, only to have Peeta come and save me, killing him right in front of me. It scared me, Rue. I was scared. And I still am. To know that I share my food and shelter with a murderer? It scares me. Bad. And I wish I wasn't here. I wish I was back home. But I'm not home; I'm here. And I had to think of myself for a moment, just for a moment. I couldn't always think of you, Rue. I have to think of myself sometimes."

Rue's face hardened for a moment, and then she breaks into tears. "I'm sorry, Prim. I-I don't know why I was so mean. I'm sorry."

"It's OK," I say, hugging her. "It's alright." Suddenly, I feel Rue jerk. "What's happened?" I ask her. My stomach starts to get really warm and sticky, like someone has spilled hot sap all over me. For a moment I am confused, but then I get what's going on. I scream and let go of her. She drops to the ground, eyes glazed over with a dark red spot on her front. I don't have to hear the cannon to know what's happened.

Rue is dead.

**Before you get mad at me, I suppose I should say this: when I write stories, I make them generally violent. I make generally all the characters die. That's just me. That's why it's so fun to write about the Hunger Games XD**


	11. Chapter 10

The world is fuzzy. My ears are ringing. All I can see is a dark shape looming over the now dead Rue.

"No..." a groan escapes my throat. "She can't be dead..."

"But she is, girly," a voice cackles. I recognize it to be Clove's. "She's dead as a doornail, just like you're gonna be."

I know that pleading isn't going to work this time, so I do an insane thing. I scramble to my feet and run. I run as fast as I can, fear fueling my adrenalin. I know that this is stupid, because Clove is way too good with throwing knives to miss her target, but I try anyway, ducking at random times. After what seems like five minutes, I look backwards, and upon seeing no one, I take a breath of relief and turn around to see District Four's male tribute, Crag, standing over me with a spear clutched in his hand. I scream and push him as hard as I can. Surprised, he stumbles and falls backwards. Before I know what I am doing, I have ripped the spear out of his hand and hold it to his throat.

"You... killed... Rue..." I say. Fear flickers through Crag's eyes for a moment, but then relief clouds them.

"No. I did," Clove cackled from behind, grabbing my arms and pulling them behind me. "And you're gonna die, just like she did. But... I think I'm gonna take my time with this. We're in no rush, are we, Crag?"

He laughs, getting up. "Of course not," he says easily. Without warning, he ignores his spear and punches me hard in the stomach. I groan and seize up at the pain.

"Didn't like that, did you?" he laughs, punching me again. The wind is knocked out of me, and tears well up in my eyes. This is _not _the way I want to die.

"Think she's weak enough?" Clove asks Crag. He puts his face in mine, and I can smell his breath.

"You got enough, girly?" All I do is groan. "I think she is," he confirms, standing back up. Clove releases me and throws me to the ground.

"I'm gonna enjoy this," she says, kicking me roughly in the side. I groan and clutch my stomach. Suddenly she looks up. "Lyssa! Marvel! Do you got him?"

"You can bet we do," a rough voice rings out. I take it to be Marvel's. "You got the girl?"

"Does it look like we got the girl, dimwit?" Clove snarles. "Just hurry up and get the boy over here. We got a surprise for you," she says nastily to Peeta. "Hold him," she instructs Lyssa and Marvel. Making sure Peeta had full view of us, she kicked me hard in the stomach. I groaned and clutched it, tears coming to the surface.

"No! You stop, you filthy animals!" Peeta kicks and struggles, but the Careers hold onto him firmly. I don't understand why Peeta is acting this way; we barely know each other.

"Oh, you don't like that, do you?" Clove asks, giving me another hard kick. I feel one of my ribs crack and scream out in pain. She gets a knife out of her bag, kneeling down beside me. "Time to show my artistic skills," she says, laughing. I whimper, tears flowing down my face. "Hmm... where to start..." she inspects my face for a moment, then laughs, bringing her knife to my face. I feel the blade cut deeply into the flesh just below my right eye. She drags the blade right across my face, over the bridge of my nose and right below my left. I scream out in pain, blood running in streams down my face.

"Clove, I think she's gotten enough," a nervous voice says that I take to be Marvel's. Clove looks up sharply.

"Think she's gotten enough?" she sneers. "What a petty tribute you are." She goes back to her work, carving around the length of my face and outlining my lips.

"I'm serious," Marvel says sternly. "Stop it, Clove."

"Stop it, Clove," she mimics. "I think _you _should stop it, Marvel." She digs her knife deep into my right temple, and I writhe in agony, screaming. At this point I've closed my eyes, the pain too much for me to bear. _Just kill me... _I think. I hear a thud, and the knife is torn from my face. I open my eyes to see Marvel wresting Clove.

"What's wrong with you?" he demands. "Why don't you just cut it out?"

"What's going on here?" A new voice breaks in that I'm pretty sure is Glimmer's.

"Marvel is being a complete idiot!" Clove throws Marvel off, pinning him to the ground. Taking another knife out of her bag, she tosses it effortlessly at Marvel, who get's up and tries to escape. True to it's target, it nails him right in the head. He falls and the cannon goes off. Almost immediately after, another cannon goes off. Apparently we're not the only tributes fighting.

"Now that he's dead," Clove says, almost like the Career was like an annoying fly buzzing about her head. "I haven't finished with her." Before she can make any more cuts, though, a loud _oomph _comes from where Peeta and Lyssa are. I turn my head to much pain to see Peeta on top of Lyssa, punching her like there's no tomorrow. Her screams echo around the forest, making my blood curdle. Crag throws himself on top of Peeta, both of them crashing to the ground.

"Get away from her!" he says, punching Peeta square in the face. I here a small crack that I take to be Peeta's nose.

"Stop it!" I sob, tears running faster and faster down my face.

"Shut up," Clove hisses to me.

"No," I say defiantly, pushing Clove away. She barely stumbles. Laughing, she wrenches her knife from my temple, beginning to trace my nose. I writhe and scream and kick, but the pain is too much and I'm barely hanging onto consciousness. Another cannon goes off, and at first I'm afraid that Peeta has been killed, but he's still fighting. I can see him. No more than two seconds later another goes off, then a third. I hate myself for it, but I find myself ticking the deaths off in my head. I wince. It's just us now. Clove laughs, obviously thinking along the same lines.

"No one else to come save you," she says nastily. "And... I think I want to admire my art work." Grabbing me roughly by my arms, she pulls me to my feet, holding me with one arm and rummaging through her bag with the other. Seconds later she comes up with more knives. Carrying me to the nearest tree, she put my two hands against it, taking one knife and stabbing it clean through my hand, into the tree. I scream and thrash, blinded by the pain. Sweat beads my face, and my tears are choked. I'm hyperventilating by the time she nails my other hand into the tree. Clove stands back to observe me.

"There we go.. perfect," she comments, turning away. All I can do is cry, the pain is too much. _Please... just let me die... I just want to die... _My poor family! I can't stand to think the pain they're going through. Much worse than mine, anyway.

I avert my eyes from Clove to nervously watch Peeta. He's still hanging on, fighting Crag and Lyssa at the same time. Finally, Peeta delivers one more blow to Lyssa and she falls, dead. Another cannon goes off. Crag looks up. "HOW DARE YOU!" He bellows, punching Peeta square in the face. Peeta groans, falls over, and collapses on the ground. I cringe, but don't hear a cannon. Relief floods my mind. I can't evade it forever, though, because moments later I watch Crag grab his trident and nail Peeta square in the back. The cannon goes off seconds later. I scream and thrash.

"NO! NO!"

"Shut up, you idiot girl!" Clove hisses, smacking me across the face. I start crying harder than ever. Without warning, Glimmer leaps on Crag, desperately trying to rip the trident out of his hand. She doesn't succeed, though, and Crag swings his trident, cutting off Glimmer's head. The cannon goes off as it flies through the air and lands in the branches above me. I close my eyes in horror as the head lands on me. Blood, not mine, but Glimmer's, soaks into my shirt. I'm forced to watch Clove and Crag battle it out. Clove is flinging knives at the Career, but he dodges them and swings at her with his trident. In less than a minute, Clove's knives meet her target and Crag falls down, blood gurgling out his mouth. Clove turns to me.

"Now with you, girly," she cackles. "Once you're dead, I've won." She brings back her knife to stab my neck, and just when I'm thinking that I'm going to die, I notice that Clove made a mistake.

She forgot to listen for the cannon.

Clove screams as Crag's trident slices clean through her, sticking out the other side. The cannon goes off and she falls, dead. Crag falls seconds after her, desperately trying to hold onto his life. But even he knows it. He's as good as dead. The cannon goes off, signaling that I've won.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your 74th Hunger Games victor!"

I smile, hang my head, and take my last breath before letting death take me.

**Muah! I really, really have to apologize, but I've just started a new FanFic, which totals a grand total of 3 at the moment for me. It's too much. So, I've decided to cut this story off short. I know, it completely goes away from what the whole point of the story is, and I must apologize, but when I'm writing a story, you really can't blame me. The story goes wherever it wants to. It _had _to happen. You'll find that with a lot of my stories all the characters end up dying in the end, but, as I've already explained, it's not my fault.**

**So, as you've probably already guessed, this is the end of the story. The adventures stop here. And while I'm done with this FanFic, keep an eye out for my latest one, _As I love you. _I'm also starting a Harry Potter FanFic, _Mudblood, _so be sure to check that out too. Thank you guys, you are amazing. -hugs reviews- You have no idea how much reviews boost my self-confidence as a writer. You guys truly are amazing.**

**-Darky**


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